I didn't want to put this one in the Celtic Christian thread - but I think it was discovered in the margin of a manuscript copied by an Irish monk (early Middle Ages) and translated by Brendan Kennelly. Beautiful but bleak.
The Viking Terror
There's a wicked wind tonight,
Wild upheaval in the sea,
No fear now that the Viking hordes
Will terrify me.
(Penguin Book of Irish Verse)
For Raven and Rapunzel
For Raven and Rapunzel
"Life is too short to ski with ugly men"
For Raven and Rapunzel
Oh my goodness! Can you imagine living through the stark terror of never knowing when they were coming? The margins! Kinda like talking out loud for those guys! :-3
I love books like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.
I love books like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.
~Quoth the Raven, Nevermore!~
For Raven and Rapunzel
It must indeed have been totally terrifying, Raven - when you only felt safe from being pillaged and murdered in your bed if there was a killer tempest raging...
Here's a gentler poem, round the 8th Century, again allegedly penned by a monk, and some say this one was in the margin of a copy of the Book of Kells. It's about the monk's white cat, called Pangur
(There was an exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia a few years ago called "The Book of Kells and the Art of Illumination" and this poem was projected onto the wall.. )
Pangur Ban
I and Pangur Ban my cat,
Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.
Better far than praise of men
Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.
Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.
Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.
'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.
When a mouse darts from its den
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!
So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.
Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.
Pangur Ban
Messe ocus Pangur Bán,
cechtar nathar fria saindan:
bÃth a menmasam fri seilgg,
mu memna céin im saincheirdd.
Caraimse fos (ferr cach clu)
oc mu lebran, leir ingnu;
ni foirmtech frimm Pangur Bán:
caraid cesin a maccdán.
O ru biam (scél cen scÃs)
innar tegdais, ar n-oendÃs,
taithiunn, dichrichide clius,
ni fris tarddam ar n-áthius.
Gnáth, huaraib, ar gressaib gal
glenaid luch inna lÃnsam;
os mé, du-fuit im lÃn chéin
dliged ndoraid cu ndronchéill.
Fuachaidsem fri frega fál
a rosc, a nglése comlán;
fuachimm chein fri fegi fis
mu rosc reil, cesu imdis.
Faelidsem cu ndene dul
hi nglen luch inna gerchrub;
hi tucu cheist ndoraid ndil
os me chene am faelid.
Cia beimmi a-min nach ré
ni derban cách a chele:
maith la cechtar nár a dán;
subaigthius a óenurán.
He fesin as choimsid dáu
in muid du-ngni cach oenláu;
du thabairt doraid du glé
for mu mud cein am messe.
Pangur Ban
Here's a gentler poem, round the 8th Century, again allegedly penned by a monk, and some say this one was in the margin of a copy of the Book of Kells. It's about the monk's white cat, called Pangur
(There was an exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia a few years ago called "The Book of Kells and the Art of Illumination" and this poem was projected onto the wall.. )
Pangur Ban
I and Pangur Ban my cat,
Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.
Better far than praise of men
Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.
Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.
Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.
'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.
When a mouse darts from its den
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!
So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.
Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.
Pangur Ban
Messe ocus Pangur Bán,
cechtar nathar fria saindan:
bÃth a menmasam fri seilgg,
mu memna céin im saincheirdd.
Caraimse fos (ferr cach clu)
oc mu lebran, leir ingnu;
ni foirmtech frimm Pangur Bán:
caraid cesin a maccdán.
O ru biam (scél cen scÃs)
innar tegdais, ar n-oendÃs,
taithiunn, dichrichide clius,
ni fris tarddam ar n-áthius.
Gnáth, huaraib, ar gressaib gal
glenaid luch inna lÃnsam;
os mé, du-fuit im lÃn chéin
dliged ndoraid cu ndronchéill.
Fuachaidsem fri frega fál
a rosc, a nglése comlán;
fuachimm chein fri fegi fis
mu rosc reil, cesu imdis.
Faelidsem cu ndene dul
hi nglen luch inna gerchrub;
hi tucu cheist ndoraid ndil
os me chene am faelid.
Cia beimmi a-min nach ré
ni derban cách a chele:
maith la cechtar nár a dán;
subaigthius a óenurán.
He fesin as choimsid dáu
in muid du-ngni cach oenláu;
du thabairt doraid du glé
for mu mud cein am messe.
Pangur Ban
"Life is too short to ski with ugly men"
For Raven and Rapunzel
How beautiful is that!!! And I got to read that with my moth watching, bug catching moggy on my lap! :-4
~Quoth the Raven, Nevermore!~
For Raven and Rapunzel
I have visions of the cat interfering with the monk's quill as he's trying to copy the manuscript in the dim candle light (while listening out for Vikings!!) - a bit like a cat these days trying to play with your keyboard while you're typing an FG post!!! :sneaky: I don't have a cat any more, but I'm sure if I did, it would be maddening!! And probably awesome too. Companionable.
"Life is too short to ski with ugly men"
For Raven and Rapunzel
If he was anything like my Clyde, he would have had to hide his feather quills! Dont know about there, but over here all the cathedrals and abbey's have their resident cats! Usually strays that the institutions have adopted. What is it about church cats? :-4
Purr-n-Fur UK ... pages about cats!
But that url comes with a warning! It will bring tears to your eyes, the stories there.
Purr-n-Fur UK ... pages about cats!
But that url comes with a warning! It will bring tears to your eyes, the stories there.
~Quoth the Raven, Nevermore!~
For Raven and Rapunzel
Raven;1255607 wrote: If he was anything like my Clyde, he would have had to hide his feather quills! Dont know about there, but over here all the cathedrals and abbey's have their resident cats! Usually strays that the institutions have adopted. What is it about church cats? :-4
Purr-n-Fur UK ... pages about cats!
But that url comes with a warning! It will bring tears to your eyes, the stories there.
WOW!!! I thought I might have seen Doorkins from Southwalk Cathedral, but I was there in November, and apparently arrived a month later.
I guess cats go wherever they can get shelter and food. French villages are full of them. So are farms.
Purr-n-Fur UK ... pages about cats!
But that url comes with a warning! It will bring tears to your eyes, the stories there.
WOW!!! I thought I might have seen Doorkins from Southwalk Cathedral, but I was there in November, and apparently arrived a month later.
I guess cats go wherever they can get shelter and food. French villages are full of them. So are farms.
"Life is too short to ski with ugly men"